Chemin de fer Vevey-Chexbres
| Vevey-Puidoux-Chexbres | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 NPZ “Train des Vignes” above Vevey, 4th June 2010
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| Timetable field : | 111 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 7.83 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Power system : | 15 kV 16.7 Hz ~ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | 44 ‰ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Compagnie du Chemin de fer Vevey-Chexbres (VCh) is a former railway company in Switzerland . The company was taken over in 2013 by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), which have also operated the route since it opened.
history
The VCh was entered in the commercial register of the canton of Vaud on October 14, 1899 . Its corporate purpose consists in the construction and operation of the standard-gauge railway line Vevey - Puidoux - Chexbres . On May 2, 1904, the first part of the company's purpose was achieved, the railway line could be put into operation. However, the company refrained from fulfilling the second part of the company's purpose itself and leased the route to SBB. On May 16, 1940, this began electrical operation on the leased line. In 1995 the line was renewed with investment contributions from the federal government and cantons at the expense of the VCh and a new catenary was built.
Since the beginning of 2011, the company was no longer managed by GoldenPass Services ( MOB ), but by SBB. The headquarters of the VCh was now in the SBB office in Vevey station . The SBB transferred the stock corporation into their possession so that the route would be part of their infrastructure. Since January 27, 2012, SBB already owned 88.8% of the shares. They have taken over these from the previous main shareholders - the canton of Vaud, the city of Vevey and the municipalities, Chexbres, Puidoux, Rivaz, St-Saphorin and Chardonne. In 2013, the SBB acquired the remaining shares that were owned by private individuals and deleted the VCh from the commercial register on June 14, 2013.
route
The route measures 7.83 km and has a maximum gradient of 44 ‰. It connects the main line Bern - Lausanne with the main line Brig - Lausanne and thus enables traffic between Bern and Brig without a hairpin in Lausanne. In normal operation this is not used due to the steep gradient of the route, but it is used when the Lötschberg axis is closed. However, heavier trains going to Bern usually require a leader.
The main purpose of the route is regional traffic, which runs every hour today. The route bears the number 111 in the Swiss timetable and the regional trains running on it are part of the Vaud transport association as an S7 .
Rolling stock used
Since the start of electrical operation, regular traffic has mainly been carried out with railcars, initially with the Fe 4/4 18509–11 and 18561 (later 809–811, 831, then 1669–1671, 1685), which had an electric brake. A special feature to be mentioned is the continuous use of the two SBB pneumatic cars from 1955 to 1959 and 1963 , center entry cars with five or four-axle pneumatic wheel bogies. These wagons had not proven themselves in long-distance traffic, but could be used sensibly thanks to their low weight of only 12 or 14 t. From 1969 shuttle trains with SBB BDe 4/4 (1952–55) were used. In 1980 some of these railcars were set up for one-man operation and three matching Bt control cars were converted. The one-man operation, however, required the waiver of stops on request. From 1996 to 2012 the SBB used a specially painted NPZ with RBDe 560 131 and the associated control car. For the first time at SBB, a stop request was implemented to enable the re-establishment of stops on request. From June 2012, a renewed unit of the RBDe 560 series with domino normal paint will run on this route. The train and the route are now marketed under the label Train des Vignes (such as Vineyard Train or Weinbergbahn ). The route leads through the middle of the vineyards of the wine-growing region and UNESCO World Heritage Site Lavaux .
literature
- Hans G. Wägli: Swiss rail network and Swiss rail profile CH + , in a slipcase. AS Verlag , Zurich, 2010, ISBN 978-3-909111-74-9
Web links
- Sébastien Jarne, et al .: Voies normales privées du pays du Vaud. BVA, Lausanne, 1997. ISBN 2-88125-010-6
- Pictures from the 100th birthday of the route
- Thesis on the nationalization of railway companies (1965) (PDF file; 2.15 MB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ VCh merges with SBB . In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 6 . Minirex, Lucerne 2011.
- ↑ http://www.vd.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/organisation/gc/fichiers_pdf/389_D%C3%A9cret.pdf
- ↑ http://www.vevey.ch/N9385/vevey-cede-ses-actions-du-vevey-chexbres-aux-cff.html
- ^ Communiqué de presse du 27 janvier 2012
- ↑ SER 3/2012 page 122
- ↑ Money House: Compagnie du Chemin de fer Vevey-Chexbres SA deleted from the commercial register . 14th of June 2013
- ↑ Pages 203-209 in: Karl Emmenegger: The lightweight steel cars of the Swiss Federal Railways . Pharos, Basel, 1997, ISBN 3-7230-0236-6
- ↑ Pages 184 and 196 in: Hans Schneeberger: The electric and diesel traction vehicles of the SBB, Volume I: Years of construction 1904–1955 . Minirex, Lucerne, 1995, ISBN 3-907014-07-3